key migratory species hotspots, threats, and corridors, as well as opportunities for conservation of multiple species’ migratory pathways.

2. Enhance

dynamic analyses through data provided by new technology, broader collaboration, and intensive modeling.

3. Design

tools to provide resource managers and interested citizens with relevant information to improve understanding, conservation, and policy on migratory processes.

Why study migratory pathways?

Migration is an adaptation with origins in natural selection. Species migrate to fulfill essential needs: to find food, reproduce, or seek out a more habitable location. The Gulf of Mexico hosts a wealth of active migration--70% of migratory fish, five species of sea turtles, one-third of the bird species in North America, and most of the Gulf’s marine mammals migrate through this ecosystem. This level of biodiversity is critical to the economic and ecological health of the entire Gulf region.

The Nature Conservancy is studying migratory pathways to identify key habitats in the life cycles of marine species in the Gulf, the critical regions connecting them, and the threats migratory species encounter that can impede migration. These pathways are necessary for species to complete important life events such as nesting and feeding, making them vital to their survival.

Occurrences are collected by observers using GPS data or through animal tracking technology. Hotspots are determined by an area’s frequency of occurrence points, which indicate animals are active there.

Migratory pathways (or corridors) are underwater or overwater paths marine species use to travel the Gulf. It is critical these corridors are free from barriers. Threats along the pathways can interrupt an animal's life cycle and ultimately impact its reproduction and resulting population. Animal movement density is derived from animal tracking data, and this density is used to identify species pathways.

Blueways are the sum of multiple migratory pathways used by various marine species across large ocean expanses such as the Gulf of Mexico. These heavily-travelled corridors are critical for connecting habitats and allowing species to migrate between nesting and feeding areas.

The Nature Conservancy coined this term to describe marine migratory corridors used by multiple species. Unlike terrestrial or aerial migratory pathways (such as bird flyways), these blueways are not yet well understood. Animal tracking data has, until recently, been largely unavailable, unreliable, and expensive. The Conservancy has worked to find, collect, analyze, and visualize this data in salient and manageable formats and has deployed animal trackers in the Gulf to fill in knowledge gaps.

Marine species tend to stop or meet in large groups for rest along their migratory journey, feeding and spawning across the Gulf. These areas are different than hotspots, which describe highly-traveled through areas. Stopover spots signify important aggregation areas where species can be especially vulnerable during migration.

Migratory connectivity refers to the links individual animals or species populations provide to their ecosystems based on their use of and fidelity to specific habitats or geographic areas. For example, birds of one breeding population that stay together throughout migration and wintering have strong connectivity, while birds that breed in the same area but disperse during migration and wintering have weak connectivity. Migratory connectivity is important for preserving relevant ecological processes and the health of the entire Gulf of Mexico large marine ecosystem.